​I’m Tired of Flower

Almost all of us started off with flower and can even recall the first time we tried flower to see how it affected us. Flower is still widely available, and there are a lot of reasons to continue using it today. But as new ways of experiencing the plant have evolved, flower is beginning to fall by the wayside, especially with the growing community of dabbers who get to enjoy the same compounds in a totally different way.

What is Flower?

Flower refers to the raw buds of the plant material, which contain the rich variety of compounds like cannabinoids and terpenes that are desirable. Flower is sold in loose buds which allow us to experience the plant in its most natural form.

How is Flower Used?

Most often, flower is either smoked or vaporized. It is smoked either in a pipe or rolled into paper. There are vaporizer devices made just for flower that allow us to experience pure flower without relying on an e-liquid. Many people also cook with flower as its compounds can become active when the buds are heated to a specific temperature.

What are the Cons of Flower?

Now, let’s talk about the most common drawbacks that we hear about flower. While flower can be great for some people, especially beginners, many find that its shortcomings make dabbing far more appealing overall.

#1: Low Potency

Flower naturally has a lower potency than dabs because dabs, being concentrates, take the compounds in the plant, and concentrate them to higher potency levels. This means that you can get a much stronger experience when you go with dabs, and once people experience this high potency, they often are not interested in looking back.

#2: Ash

Anyone who has smoked flower, or even vaporized it, knows that it can create a good deal of ash. And, that ash needs to be dealt with before another session can begin. While it’s not the end of the world, cleaning out the ash can get old after a while, especially when it makes its way into nooks and crannies of your device, or clogs the airflow.

Versus dabbing, where at most you would used isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs like the glob mops, we even have cotton swabs with isopropyl alcohol within them.

#3: Resin

The other byproduct of flower is resin, which is useful in its own right, but a pain to deal with, nonetheless. Resin is a sticky gunk that is inevitable after a smoking or vaping session, and it can clog up a device and interfere with the flavor, especially if it’s not cleaned right away and allowed to burn over and over again each time you fire a hit.

#4: Cleaning Requirements

Because of resin and ash, smoking or vaping flower requires a good deal of cleaning. Anyone with a traditional pipe will tell you that they have to engage in a full cleaning session whenever they have completed a few sessions. This can understandably get old, especially as the resin and ash can meld together to form a particularly tough gunk that is difficult to remove with simple running water.

#5: Grinding

Flower usually needs to be ground up in order to be properly applied to paper, a bowl or a vaporizer device. While grinding isn’t too difficult of a process, it is just another added step that needs to be completed before the user can simply enjoy their product.

Now, because of this, it means that a person must always travel with their grinder if they like to smoke or vape on the road, and must maintain their grinder regularly, as they need to be cleaned frequently due to the buildup of kief and resin that occurs over time.

#6: Flavor

Flower naturally has a weaker flavor than concentrates because its terpenes are, well, less concentrated. Over the years, dabbing has allowed enthusiasts to discover bolder, richer flavor with the plant material, and have become more interested in the distinctive flavor notes that can be explored when dabbing.

The flavor is also typically less clean-tasting with flower due to the way in which the flower is prone to burning due to repeated lighting with a lighter, or the constant heat of a vaporizer device combined with the dry nature of the herb.

#7: Smell

To put it simply, flower produces a less appealing smell because the terpenes are not yet concentrated and refined through a concentration process.

#8: Cost

Flower may be more costly than dabs, in the long run, at least. Concentrates give you more potency with less product, which means that you can find that a little goes a long way. This means that your dabs will last longer than your flower, saving you money. Besides that, you won’t need to up your supply as frequently as dabs last for quite a long time.

Note: Many dabs tend to be more chemically stable than flower as well, meaning they won’t expire or lose their flavor so soon.

#9: Amount of Hits Needed to Get the Desired Results

People who dab love the fact that it only takes a couple of hits to get the experience that they want, rather than an entire bowl’s worth of product. This is easier on the throat, and takes less time per session. If you’re in a time crunch, dabbing gets the job done much faster.

Why Dabbing May Be Better

Overall, dabbing is a more preferable way to experience the plant, as far as many enthusiasts are concerned. The flavor is richer, the process is cleaner, the hits are more potent and the maintenance is lower. If you have been thinking about making the switch because you’re tired of one or more aspects of flower listed above, then we recommend that you invest in a dabbing setup and grab some concentrates to get started.

Put it this way, dabbing is just a more efficient way to experience the compounds of the plant in general, and that explains why it has become so hugely popular in recent years.